A story of the ups and downs of civilization as told by man’s earliest known literary relics. Being an authoritative digest of the whole subject of ancient writings. Contains a biographical sketch of the author. Contents: origin and development of the writing art; footprints of early progress in Egypt; Ancient writings of Babylonia and Assyria; ancient writings of Palestine, China, India, Greece, Rome and the Bible; with subchapters giving more detail of each area.